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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28422474">A Heartbeat at My Side</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/RandomReader13/pseuds/RandomReader13'>RandomReader13</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Padfoot [4]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Black Family Feels (Harry Potter), Black Family-centric (Harry Potter), Brothers, Gen, I can no longer title, Manipulative Albus Dumbledore, Regulus Black Deserves Better, Roughhousing, Sirius Black as Padfoot, Snuffles - Freeform, The Noble and Most Ancient House of Black, They love each other so much, awkward bois trying to show caring, but it's not a big thing - Freeform, complicated family dynamics, just Reggie having Thoughts (tm), or as Regulus calls him, slight mention of - Freeform, you can't convince me this man really tried all that hard with the Slytherins</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-30</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-30</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 18:54:02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,961</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28422474</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/RandomReader13/pseuds/RandomReader13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Sirius used to love the snow; he’d go bounding around their garden hollering and building snowmen and throwing snowballs at the house elves, and Regulus used to be there right alongside him.<br/>Regulus chewed on his lip, his arms folded tightly across his chest. Maybe Sirius didn’t like the snow anymore.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Regulus Black &amp; Sirius Black</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Padfoot [4]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2060997</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>156</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>A Heartbeat at My Side</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Regulus bit his lip, reading the letter again. </span>
  <em>
    <span>I am pleased to hear you have found such a distinguished companion,</span>
  </em>
  <span> his mother had written. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Keep me updated on this matter. As for your future dog, do not concern yourself. You have several years yet before you come of age. I trust you to remember discretion; the gifting of one’s first hound is an important event, discussing it too early would disrupt the ceremonies, even with those in the family.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Pretty straight-forward. He could keep meeting with Sirius, keep her updated on their activities, and don’t mention him being an animagus to anyone, even family. For now, they were keeping it a secret. That...didn’t make sense to Regulus, really, but he was sure Mother and Father were planning something. They must be, there was no way they would be content to sit and watch as Sirius ran around and got himself arrested. Regulus clearly didn’t need to know their plan at the moment; he could just continue on as he had been. That was nice at least.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Regulus glanced at the enchanted picture frame next to his bed. The snow had finally stopped, leaving the grounds coated in soft white. Even the whomping willow looked nice after a fresh snowfall, before anything agitated it enough to make it thrash and mar all the snow in its reach. Regulus pulled on his heaviest cloak and made his way outside.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The cold air stung his nose and he pulled his green and silver scarf tighter, shivering a little. Sirius used to love the snow; he’d go bounding around their garden hollering and building snowmen and throwing snowballs at the house elves, and Regulus used to be there right alongside him. Sirius hadn’t gone outside once in the two weeks they were home for winter holidays. Maybe he didn’t like snow anymore? Maybe he wouldn’t be out there today and Regulus was just wasting his time, wandering around the grounds in a foot of snow. Snow was tipping into the tops of his dragon-skin boots and the hem of his cloak was heavy with it by the time he stopped near the tree Snuffles normally met him at. His breath bloomed in icy clouds as he panted, tugging his cloak closer around him. With how white the grounds were, he would be able to see Snuffles immediately. But there was no sign of the massive black dog. Regulus chewed on his lip, his arms folded tightly across his chest. Maybe he was right. Maybe Sirius didn’t like the snow anymore.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>That...would put a dent in their meetings for a while. It was </span>
  <em>
    <span>cold </span>
  </em>
  <span>in Scotland, and they’d had an unseasonable lack of snow before winter holidays, which meant they were probably going to have a </span>
  <em>
    <span>lot</span>
  </em>
  <span> from now on. Regulus tried to convince himself that the sinking feeling in his chest at the thought was just because he was supposed to stay in contact; Mother had said so. But...he had enjoyed meeting Snuffles before that, and he had been sad when he didn’t show up. And he had been blazingly happy when Sirius had agreed to his timid suggestion of a game of Exploding Snap. Sirius had remained aloof and a bit snippy, but Regulus wasn’t worried about that. He was more distant than he was when Sirius was Snuffles too. Sirius didn’t know Regulus knew, and Regulus had to keep it that way, so they both had to act a bit. But Sirius hadn’t played with him in years, not really. He’d sit and move pieces or put down cards, but he...wasn’t really there. He wasn’t trying, he was just appeasing Mother and Father. It hurt more than Regulus was willing to admit, so he stopped asking and was quick to come up with an excuse if his parents suggested it.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>But on one of their first days back for holiday, Sirius had only hesitated for a moment before saying, “Yeah, sure, Reg,” and they played a whole three games. Regulus had been soundly trounced, but he hadn’t stopped smiling for hours. That would be nice to do again, playing games with his brother in his real form, somewhere </span>
  <em>
    <span>warm</span>
  </em>
  <span> -- he stamped his feet, trying to warm up his toes -- but that would never happen. Their acts were too...much, here. Back home it didn’t matter if Sirius played a few games with him. At Hogwarts, there would be questions, lots of them on both sides. Plus, where would they play? Students from other houses weren’t allowed in each other’s common rooms, and for a person who stressed inter-house unity -- a load of hog-wash, in Regulus’ mind, if he really wanted to do something, he would stop ignoring Gryffindor’s part in the Gryffindor-Slytherin rivalry -- Dumbledore hadn’t made any effort to provide comfortable places for house mixing. There were only so many times you could try to have a party in an unused classroom before it got old, so people just kept to their own house, where they knew they’d have somewhere comfortable, warm, and well-lit to hang out.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Regulus stamped his legs again, scanning the fields of white. Sighing, he started back towards the castle, awkwardly following his own footsteps rather than forging a new path through the snow.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He was nearing the more frequented parts of the grounds, other students’ trails crossing his own, when he heard the barking. Snuffles exploded out of a snowbank, spraying snow everywhere, and Regulus instinctually covered his head with his arms. Snuffles danced around him, barking, and Regulus laughed, futilely trying to brush the snow off of himself.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Snuffles! You came!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Snuffles snorted violently at the name, like he always did, and Regulus wasted no time in rubbing his snow-coated gloves over the dog’s head in revenge for the way icy water was dripping down the back of his neck. Snuffles reared back, shaking his head, and looked up at Regulus with a glint in his eye that Regulus recognized after thirteen years of living with his brother. He squeaked and tried to run, but he was no match for Snuffles on a normal day; with the snow hampering him, he never had a chance.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>A heavy weight slammed into the backs of his knees, and Regulus went down with a yelp. Snuffles’ was half on top of him, keeping him pressed firmly into the snow, and Regulus flailed wildly, his ribs hurting from laughter.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Get off- get off,” he gasped, twisting his head so his face was clear of the snow. Snuffles slid off his back, half-disappearing into the snow as he lay down beside Regulus, and licked him right across the face.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Ew, gross!” Regulus yelled, wiping at his face. He sent Snuffles a baleful look, but the dog only panted cheerfully at him. Getting licked was a lot grosser now that Regulus knew it was his </span>
  <em>
    <span>brother</span>
  </em>
  <span> doing the licking. Then again, he had been quietly refreshing his knowledge of animagi, and apparently it was normal for traits of the actual animal to come across in animal form, even with the wizard or witch’s mind remaining intact. Something about human emotions filtering through an animal form and coming out like an animal might behave. So...it wasn’t really </span>
  <em>
    <span>Sirius</span>
  </em>
  <span> licking him, it was Snuffles. But still. Gross.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Regulus rolled onto his back, staring up at the slate-grey sky. “I missed you,” he told Snuffles. The dog lay his head on his paws, watching him. The holidays had certainly been better than usual, with him and Sirius talking more and even playing games, but it wasn’t as easy. There was always this tension, the knowledge that one slip would ruin the tentative peace they had growing between them. “We had Sirius’ sixteenth birthday party,” he continued. “It was pretty great, but I don’t think Sirius wanted to be there. He’s got his, uh, his Gryffindor friends, you know? And they weren’t invited of course. It was mostly family and, uh, some of my friends and their older siblings.” Regulus faltered for a moment, but pushed on. He was glad he knew that Snuffles was Sirius. It meant he could say things to Snuffles that he wanted to tell his brother, as long as he made it seem casual, like he hadn’t made the connection but was just...talking to a friendly dog. Dogs were easy to talk to. He focused on that, rather than the knowledge it was his brother laying next to him in the snow. “I wish his friends could have been there,” he said, voice barely audible.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Snuffles’ head shot up.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“He, uh, he really misses them, I think,” Regulus continued, staring determinedly at the sky so he didn’t have to meet those sharp grey eyes. “When we’re home. I mean, they’re pricks but,” he shrugged awkwardly, shivering as snow fell down his collar.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Snuffles got up and tugged gently on Regulus’ cloak. “What? What is it?” Snuffles kept nudging until Regulus climbed to his feet and followed. They wound their way around the castle, and Snuffles barked before running off. Regulus sighed and continued slogging along. Either he would catch up, Snuffles would come back, or he wouldn’t. He wasn’t alone for long though. He barely had time to stumble through two snow drifts before Snuffles came charging back, sticking beside him all the way to the greenhouses, where he tugged Regulus determinedly to the smallest of the lot. The door was unlocked, and Regulus had an idea what Sirius had been doing when he had run off like that, and Regulus looked around cautiously as he entered. He had never been in this greenhouse before, but it was past the sixth- and seventh-year one, which couldn’t bode well for the contents.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>To his surprise, however, none of the plants inside the greenhouse were moving or making noise or had warning signs. It was the most boring greenhouse Regulus had ever seen, and it only took one glimpse of the workbench to realize why. Books on plants. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Muggle</span>
  </em>
  <span> books on plants. Regulus looked at the innocuous flowers and ferns with new eyes. They were things he had seen before, he realized, in pots and gardens and growing wild, but he didn’t know their names or what their properties might be. Why would anyone bother to learn about non-magical plants? They had limited uses in potion making, he couldn’t imagine they bloomed any prettier than the magical varieties, and they tended to die terribly quickly. Maybe Professor Sprout was just personally interested?</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Snuffles nudged the door shut and led him to the back corner, where a bunch of bright pink and purple flowers spilled out of their pots, trailing to the ground. Snuffles lay down and Regulus sat down next to him, shedding his winter cloak, scarf, and gloves. He was practically steaming in the warm air, and he was more than happy to lean against the legs of a table overflowing with little red plants and rest after all the exercise he had gotten walking around in the snow.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Snuffles dropped his head on Regulus’ lap, and he ran his fingers through his thick fur. “Do you come here often?” he asked, looking around the greenhouse. It was rather nice, warm and isolated and smelling nice from all the flowers. Nothing dangerous either, it seemed. “It’s nice.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Snuffles rumbled low in his chest and settled his head more firmly on Regulus’ legs. Regulus smiled and leaned his head back against the table. It might not have been what he had in mind, when he imagined hanging out with his brother somewhere warm, but it was still good.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Yeah, he thought, letting his eyes slide shut, his brother a furnace tucked up against him. It was still good.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Thank you to everyone who reads, kudos, and/or comments!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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